The decision of the Councillor for Citizen Safety, María Dolores Sanchez to put a temporary ban on the very popular Flea Market, which is held on the first Saturday of every month, was a bombshell. Although such an action was looming, it did take the organisers by surprise that the very month chosen for the ban would be the most important of the year for the cancer fund-raising cause: December.

There is no question that some stands had been selling items that were outside the original agreement between the cancer association and the Town Hall, but it had been argued that it was up to the police to enforce these limitations; not the organisers. According to the councillor, this is not the case.

However, although both the Councillor and the fair organisers had agreed that things needed to be sorted out and a provisional halt was justified, they differed on the timing; i.e., not Christmas.

With this in mind, we went to speak with María Dolores and pointed out that a postponement - offered in Christmas spirit - of the ban until January would be a very well received concession and would help the charity’s cause enormously.

The Councillor, who professes admiration for the Almuñécar cancer association, promised that she would consider such a move. Finally, however, she didn’t change her mind and the ban stood.

On Christmas day, 1914, such was the shared respect for Christmas that soldiers from both sides climbed out of their trenches and shook hands…

There has been an amazing development, down at the Civil Registry, where the staff has begun opening and manning the office in the afternoons… Is nothing sacred?

Almuñécar, together with the provincial capital, are the only two towns in the whole of Granada that have afternoon opening in these very busy administrative offices. Almuñécar was chosen, following the success experienced in pilot schemes that were carried out in Algeciras, Jaén and Alcalá de Guadaira.

Just in case you didn’t know where the Civil Registry is, you can find it in the same building as the Law Court Number One, which is just across from Radiovisión (next to the river).

The two schools that are situated right next to Río Seco (IES Al Ándalus and CP San Miguel) both suffered considerable damage to their facilities when the flood hit. In fact, the senior school was closed for about a week, if I remember correctly. Well, the Head of the Regional Educational Board, Cándida Martínez, announced that the Board would be spending some 181,000 euros on repair damage and replacing unserviceable equipment and ruined furniture etc. She promised that everything would be completed before the year is out. Hmmm. Does she mean the calendar year, or the school year?

The Junta de Andalucía lost its appeal against the court decision concerning the three building licences that were granted by the Town Hall several years ago. The licences in question are the ones granted to Inmobiliaria del Sur de España S.L. for the construction of 43 dwellings in the Barranco de Noy; Edificios Aergali S.L. for the construction of three dwellings in the Rambla de Caballero (Taramay) and La Cañada de La Herradura S.L., for 66 dwellings, business premises and garages in the Calle Rambla de Espinar (La Herradura).

In the case of the licence for La Herradura, the Junta lost its appeal because it was presented after the time limit allowed.

The Mayor, Juan Carlos Benavides lost no time in announcing that, once again, the actions of his administrations have been backed by the Law against what he qualifies as the attempts by the socialist Regional Government attempting to boycott the municipal administration of Almuñécar.

Which brings us to the controversial, state-sponsored housing for young couples that was illegally erected in Laderas de Castelar (Barrio San Sebastian). The Junta and the Town Hall have reached an agreement which is hoped will sort out the whole damned mess and inject some sort of legality to the situation.

You might remember that the housing was finished but could not be handed over to the expectant young owners because they had been illegally built on land that was not categorised as residential. The owners – some say with the connivance of the Town Hall, but certainly with the co-operation of the construction company – decided to squat in the brand-new accommodation. The trouble is that as they are illegal, the water and electricity companies cannot supply their services, which means that the flats have receive their electricity supply, for instance, via the provisional supply granted to the building site whilst construction was going on – the building company has kept it on, instead of dispensing with it, now that the work is finished.

An agreement was reached because basically the Junta said that ‘what’s done is done, so let’s find a way out of this mess,’ The Town Hall, for its part must cancel the building licence that it originally issued for the project and resubmit another one, that is in accord with existing development restrictions, which the Junta would then pass.

The Mayor used the Spanish expression, “bien está lo que bien acaba,” meaning, more or less, ‘that which ends well, is well,’ and has promised to carry out the necessary paperwork directly.

However, it does appear, once again, that the much-used tactic of ‘do what the hell you like quickly to achieve a fait-accompli situation’ never fails, doesn’t it?

Lentegí is hardly the Central Telephone Exchange of the known universe, so when somebody vandalises its only public telephone, it is a bit of a downer (blow). The village had long campaigned for a public telephone, because for many old people, mobile telephones are unfathomable devices (actually, for just about anybody over 30!) and for those without a standard ‘phone at home, if they needed to ‘phone somebody, then they had to beg the favour from a neighbour to use their ‘phone.

Finally, the great day came and Comytel magnanimously installed a bright, new telephone box in the village! Welcome to the 20th Century (never mind the 21st Century) Lentegí!

Then the fateful day strode into town and dealt a dastardly blow: some blighter had managed to break the hand piece in two! The culprit probably possesses several multicoloured, overworked, mobile telephones; not as an apparatus for making calls, but as kind of Play Station-cum-music player.

Now the village will have to wait until Comytel sends up another engineer. And that might be a long time, as there is a reluctance on the part of the company, because of the last two engineers who were sent, allegedly one got lost and starved to death in the hills, trying to find the village, and the other was captured, eaten and his skin turned into a canoe, whilst trying to cross the municipality of neighbouring Otívar.

Meanwhile, back down to the relative civilisation of Almuñécar where 1,300 exotic birds had a meeting to see who was the prettiest. There were some humans involved, of course, as this was the XXI Concurso Ornitológico 2007; i.e., the yearly ornithological competition, which is held in the town’s sports pavilion behind the San Cristóbal beach road. Bird breeders from Sevilla, Málaga, Almería, Jaén, as well as our province of Granada, took part.

In last month’s Almuñécar section we mentioned the fact that somebody had at last been tried and sentenced for the disastrous mountain fire that occurred five years ago, (November 2002). Agricultural experts have inspected the area that the fire ravaged and come up with the conclusion that life has returned to 70% of the land damaged by the fire. However, another 15 or 20 years will be needed for vegetation to be dense enough to protect the land from erosion and a total of 60 years will have to pass until the new trees reach maturity.

It’s also worth noting that the ‘diques’ coped well with the huge downpour in September and prevented further erosion. The ‘dique’s (dykes) are really high walls that cross steep gullies, so that the flow of the water is arrested long enough to drop its sediment, before brimming over and continuing further down the gully.

Yet the scars are still there to be seen; the result of raging flames marching through nearly 3,000 hectares of chaparral.

There has been a lot of political skirmishing over a rise in the rubbish-collection bill, but the end result is that people will pay on average 36 euros more for this service each time they are billed – that translates into a 20% increase.

The Mayor insists that this does not represent a rise in municipal taxes, despite a more than evident increase in the size of the bill – a question of semantics, no doubt. You see, the rubbish-collection bill was separated from the general rates (IBI) before being pumped up, so the Mayor can claim that the taxes (IBI) have not been raised.

So why the rise? The Mayor put it bluntly: “Those that cheered the rubbish collection strikers on, pointing out that they were paid too little; where did they think the money would come from? Did they think that the Granada Council was going to pay it? No, we’ve all got to pay it.”

From the 1st January 2008, the town coffers will have to pay out 4,428,217.29 euros to the cleaning company, under the terms of the final agreement that finished the strike. This sum is 1,700,000 euros more than before and that will only be found from one source: the rate payer. However, as the IU Councillor, Ivan Sánchez pointed out, the Mayor and the other Councillors who receive handsome salaries from the Town Hall Coffers could always chip in (contribute)…

The Mayor had a hard time getting council approval, as he has one councillor less than the combined opposition seats. The PSOE (socialists) criticised the Mayor for choosing days when he knows that their leader, Rosario Palacios, is away in Sevilla, discharging her parliamentary duties, so the seeming habitual support of the PP (conservatives) was not even needed, as in the event of a tie, a Mayor gets a tie-break vote.

And now for something completely different… (*RAF March Past sounds in background*) Ah, I see that I’ve left even some of the Brits nonplussed. The Monty Python theme song was the RAF March Past music long before Britain’s classic comedy team ever got together, Folks. You don’t know how difficult it was to suppress a ringing ‘raspberry’ whenever the march-past music concluded, out there on the parade ground.

Anyway, this article is not about either the RAF or MPFC; it’s about a thief that was caught red handed (in the act) as he attempted to hold up a chemist in the Plaza de Madrid on the 7th of last month at six in the evening. The culprit strolled in and asked the male assistant for a product that would necessitate his going to the storeroom. When the assistant returned, there was our hero brandishing a bloody-great cuchillo jamonero, which is a wickedly sharp, long bladed knife, used for cutting slices from a Jamón Serrano.

To the thief's surprise the assistant told him to bugger off, because he had no intention of giving him anything. A little choked, perhaps, the thief insisted, offering to bound over the counter and slice little bits off the uncooperative and unreasonable assistant. Little did he know that there was a female assistant in the back room who just happened to be pretty keen on the idea of informing the police.

So fast was the Guardia Civil’s response that they managed to walk through the door as the thief was patiently re-explaining the cutting potential of the sulking knife… Realising directly that even a cuchillo jamonero looked a bit ‘underpowered’ when up against two 9mm pistols and two gentlemen well versed in Clint Eastwood stock phrases, he decided to accompany the policemen in a pacific manner.

Members of the Almuñécar Branch of the Royal Naval Association attended Remembrance Day services at two separate locations on Sunday November 11th, being represented at both Málaga and Nerja.

The Málaga Royal British Legion and the RAF Association had invited the Branch to send representatives to attend the Remembrance Day service and parade at St George’s Church within the English Cemetery, in Málaga. A wreath was laid by Branch Secretary, Dave Toms, on the only Naval War Grave in the English Cemetery; that of Commander (S) W D Stranack RN, lost from HMS Manchester on July 7th 1941.

The Chairman Nigel, Jest, and five Shipmates represented the Branch at the Anglican Church Service of Remembrance in Nerja.

The next Branch meeting and function is a Christmas Party on Tuesday December 11th at the Restaurant Árbol Blanco in Almuñécar. Places are strictly limited to 40, and at the time of writing, there are only four places available!

The Almuñécar RNA Branch was commissioned just over a year ago has some 40 members and associate members, from all backgrounds, covering an area from Benalmadena to Motril and inland. Contact the Secretary, Dave Toms, by e-mail on almunecarRNA@hotmail.com,or on 677 31 19 02. Meetings are held on the 2nd Tuesday of the month, normally at Bar El Globo on the Paseo in Almuñécar.

Our good friend and colleague Juan Manuel de Haro has been given the Naranaja award by the Asociación de Periodistas de la Costa y Alpujarra. Juan Manuel has been the eyes and ears of the Ideal in Almuñécar since the grandfather of God was at playschool… as the Spanish say. ¡Enhorabuena, Juan Manuel, por parte de todos nosotros aquí en La Gazette y te mandamos un abrazo grande pa’ que te salten lo’zojo, chiquillo!

If you’ve ever sat down to enjoy a coffee or whatever at one of the tables in the Town Hall Square, you would probably have notice a Spanish lad hurtling through, pushing a trolley. He clumps through at a rattling pace – despite his Wellington boots – charging through the startled tourists. To avoid the loss of innocent life, he whistles, as if herding goats, and shouts out, “Voy!”

Well if you have witnessed such a scene, then you have seen Almuñécar’s Ramirico (this is his nickname, but his real name is Ramón). I don’t know which is funnier: Ramirico, with his striding pace, gumboots - or sandals, depending on the season - whistling and calling out, as if marshalling a herd of goats, or the faces of shock, followed by indignation, that the foreign tourists present, as they dive for safety.

You see, Ramirico – who also has a brother who is very similar in appearance – is a sort of barrow boy for the local fish market. So when you see him marching past, armed with a trolley loaded with boxes, it is because he is on his way between the market and the restaurant clients.

Which brings us onto the Anzorin. Who are they, you might ask, but you should know the answer, because you are one.

Spaniards that work around foreign tourists will hear them utter something that sounds remarkably like “Anzorin!” Of course, this is very, very exaggerated Andaluz, and is the mick-taking (mocking) rending of… “I’m sorry!”

Both brothers, by the way, can now be seen on the Internet (YouTube), where – if your Andaluz is up to it – you can have a good laugh with the Almuñequeros laughing at themselves.

And as we approach winter, three of our 4-star hotels are going to close for the season. Wonderful, isn’t it! All our politicians pranced about, spouting on about how much we really, really, needed hotels, so that we could promote the winter months and not rely so much on the ever-shorter summer season, and now… not a peep from Benny or the opposition about this!

Hey, but, let’s build more hotels, even though there isn’t enough trade for the existing ones to stay open! Anybody who has ventured round to Cotobro, for instance, will have seen that the monstroisity that sides astride the Roman remains where the quaint little chalet used to stand is underway again.

OK, so let’s get this straight, Playa Cálida – which is Almuñécar largest hotel with 325 rooms – closes down for the winter, because it isn’t economic to stay open, is seemingly building another hotel in Cotobro… Eh? Hey, but we’re still left with the fact that three 4-star hotels shut down for winter, yet they are building more hotels – what gives? Hotel Best Alcázar, which has only just opened, is supposedly closing to carry out reforms… Hmmm… Hotel Fenicios is closing for the same reason, even though they used that excuse last year.

Which brings us to the necessity of closing all winter to carry out reforms. Now, when Hotel Playa was completely swamped by water and mud – the whole place a complete and utter shambles… they closed for a week and put all the serving staff – issued with gumboots – to cleaning up. And hey presto! One week later it was operating again as if nothing had happened… So, please could somebody explain why a hotel needs three months for decorating? Nah, it doesn’t wash, I’m afraid.

You just can’t help getting the feeling that certain ‘badly needed’ hotels are built, knowing full well that they will not succeed, but later can be sold off as ‘juicy blocks of flats, in prime, seafront positions, which otherwise would never have been allowed to be built.

Mayor Benavides is in trouble for authorising the Sport Pavilion on non-building land. The Public Prosecutor has accused Benavides of interfering with planning processes and will ask for him to be banned from office in court. Five additional members of the municipal administration have also been implicated in the case, where the construction of the sports complex on non-building land was given permission locally.

The Mayor is expected to sit in the accused’s chair to be questioned in court over the matter, defending himself against the alleged crime of interfering with planning processes. The Public Prosecutor’s Office of Granada will ask for an injunction against Benavides, whose record for allegedly granting permission for dubious public and private building projects seems to be getting longer and longer. His reputation is growing as a politician of fait accompli projects – first you lay the bricks and then you sort out the ‘legality’.

The Almuñécar Town Hall called an extraordinary meeting to authorise the works on the sports pavilion, once the project was virtually completed. In fact, since the surrounding land had a protection order, no one was even allowed to lay a single stone in the area before the appropriate paperwork was passed. The land was in fact passed to the town hall through an urban agreement signed by the hotel group looking to build the Hotel Fuerte, which in itself sounds mysterious.

The irony is that Benavides and his cohorts probably wouldn’t have had any problem re-zoning the land, if they had respected the normal legal processes and timing that are typical for any project of this nature; especially not, given that the project was for the good of the public. Where wouldn’t have been any obstacles, but all would have been accomplished in the correct time frame and using the correct methods.

But this wasn’t the case, therefore Benavides and the five additional members of the local administration will be called before the Public Prosecutor to defend themselves against the accusation. (This case is certainly very similar to the one still pending judgement, regarding the ‘viviendas jovenes’ – special housing for first-home buyers, built on land classified as industrial zoning).

If these individuals are found guilty, they will be banned from public office for abusing their political power. Hmmm...

60 divers volunteer to clear the sea bottom after the recent floods. Coming from throughout Andalucía, the divers have been organised by the University Association of Sub-aquatic Activities (AUAS) to take on this massive task of at least reducing some of the tonnes of rubbish (including cars, motorbikes and appliances) which were washed down through the river beds during the violent storm of that fated 21st September.

The local Councillor in charge of beaches in Almuñécar and La Herradura, Daniel Barbero, and the President of the AUAS, Francisco Bautista, co-ordinated this day (Saturday 24th November), in collaboration with our own Nautical Station Head quarters in La Herradura (Estación Náutica de la Costa Tropical) and a number of local diving schools and clubs.

It was the AUAS, however, which first proposed the clean up. Clearly, the Town Hall gladly accepted their offer, promising the indispensable paella celebration as gratitude, to conclude the day. Whilst the divers were doing their thing, security measures were in place, with the zones clearly marked and the appropriate authorities (Emergency Services, Civil Protection and Local Police) overseeing the operation.

The system employed was to keep divers to a maximum of 50 minutes worth of submersion, focusing on up to 14 metres of water depth. And what they came back with was not only damaging to the environment, but also potentially extremely dangerous for present and future swimmers. Knowing how our Mediterranean can churn up at the drop of a hat, you certainly wouldn’t like to find yourself or your children encountering sharp tools and utensils, just to name some of the ‘treasures’, would you?

Poetry prize ‘Amigos de La Herradura’ won by Manuel Terrín Benavides, who has already gained some 1,300 literary awards. Although from Cordoba, Manuel presented his work ‘Regresar a La Herradura’ (Return to La Herradura), which reigned supreme over some 30 poems. This is the first year of the poetry competition and the first prize was a cool 1,000 euros (think I might re-train!).

The jury also awarded the runner-up, Alfredo Macías, a prize of 500 Euros. The official presentation will take place at the Civic Centre from 9pm on December 7th.

Twelve guitarists from seven countries competed in Andrés Segovia Competition. All under entrants were under 35 years of age, with such a high standard of performance that the judges were nervous!

I wasn’t fortunate enough to witness more than the semi-final, but I was pleased to see so many other people in the audience and relieved to hear how the Civic Centre worked to the artists’ advantage in terms of both acoustics and appropriate facilities. We were all so impressed, not just at the skill of these participants in delivering such performances, but at the way they obviously had such a distinct relationship with the guitar. This in itself (for me at least) gave new life to the interpretation of this versatile instrument.

At the Final on 23rd November, after performing with the Orquesta del Certamen Andrés Segovia before a full house, the prestigious award (as well as the 9,000 Euros) for first place was awarded to Bertrand Pietu from France. Our congratulations go to the winner, the participants and the organisers.

The fact that this twenty-third edition of the concert was so well attended, smacks of just how interested the public is in pursuing cultural events. So, don’t forget about the AECC Art and Craft Christmas Fair to be held at the Helios Hotel in Almuñécar 7th – 9th December inclusive.

And for those of you who just love this time of year, you’ll be looking forward to the traditional Christmas concerts to be held on the 15th December at San José church in La Herradura and then on 21st December at the main church in Almuñécar. The culture is here!

Nautical tourism is the best bet for Granada coastline, especially since the rest of the tourist season seems to be limited to summer and Easter. Clearly, something which helps to smooth out these seasonal fluctuations and offer some hope for the local economy during those ‘dry’ months, has got to be a plus in my mind.

It has been said that the Granada coast trails behind the rest of coastal Spain in putting up some alternatives to stimulate local industry, mostly because of difficulties with infrastructure. But guess what? The long-awaited motorway is creeping its way across the Granada province, so there may actually be some hope for people being inclined to come here throughout the year, rather than restricting themselves to the ‘summer push’.

I guess the flip side of this is that the beaches here (despite the odds with the inclement weather during the past few months) are ‘relatively’ unspoilt so far and could easily offer some nautical alternatives for visitors and more importantly, spending tourists. Certainly, there have been moves made over the past few years to attract a different level of tourism, with projects such as the Aquarium and the Estación Náutica, not to mention the ongoing references to the fabled sub-aquatic park. Of course, it would help if people visiting weren’t faced with destruction and endless building projects everywhere they turned.

Speaking of illegal building licences, some of you will be delighted to learn of the fate of the Edificio Aida; a block of 17 apartments in Marina del Este. The promoter, Adnania Internacional SA had the authorisation from Almuñécar Town Hall to go ahead and build, but the project was contested by the community of owners from Edificio Abencerrajes as not having a legal licence.

The High Court of Granada has subsequently found that in fact the project is not appropriate because it is located within a zone where the building density already pushes the limits. And surprise, surprise, there is no record of any official geological study of the land to determine whether the area can in fact cope with additional building, not to mention the environmental impact the project might have on parkland ‘El Mirador’. Needless to say, the case has called into question just who was involved (for example, the municipal architect and the Almuñécar Town-Hall secretary, just to name a few) in sneaking this project through.

The Hideaway is set to be busy during December, starting with the usual positive library gathering on Wednesday 12th December. It’s a chance to return and take out books, as well as an opportunity to touch base, all within the pleasant ambience of Jenette and Darren’s bright and welcoming bar.

The following day, the 13th December, sees the return of their successful Quiz Night and judging from the one held last month, you’d better get in there quick to make sure you have your corner covered. Guaranteed to be challenging, with lots of yummy nosh available and an endless supply of drinks to buy at the bar, leading to an inevitably brilliant time!

Oh, by the way, don’t forget to invest in the Hideaway Christmas Raffle ticket, with surprises in store. This will be drawn on Boxing Day (26th December), so make sure not to miss out, especially since they’ll be closed Monday 24th and Tuesday 25th December.

Finally, to cap off the Festive Season in style, Jenette and Darren invite you to spend New Year’s Eve with them. A party set to rock you through to 2008, bring your dancing shoes and don’t expect anyone to surface on 1st January (yep, that’s right – the bar will not be open the usual hours that Tuesday!)

Join the elves at El Ancla, plus friends and family on Christmas Day 12 noon-3pm, when you’ll be welcomed with complimentary mulled wine, mince pies and Jean’s to-die-for Christmas cake! Then come Boxing Day (26th December) you’re invited to try out the best a-la-carte breakfast on the coast – so I’ve been told – and hang on in there with an endless stream of Boxing Day sport.

Once New Year’s Eve arrives, you’ll be pleased to learn that it’s open house all day long. No tickets, no pressure, just turn up and enjoy good times in good company.

Finally, the El Ancla crew want you to help them kick-start the New Year with their special ‘Treat-your-hangover-in-style’ recovery programme, consisting of smoked salmon and scrambled eggs with Bucks Fizz.

Katie, Jonathan, Jean and all the team would like to wish all their friends and clients all the very best of the Festive Season.

The unveiling of Miguel Moreno statue took place at Los Olivos and set the tone for a week dedicated to music and the memory of Andrés Segovia. Tony and Carol Morton were delighted to invite friends, family and those associated with the internationally acclaimed competition to share in this special event, where the sculpture ‘El llegado de Andrés Segovia al Mundo’ had its debut. This is yet another milestone to add to the legacy of this unique musician and his contribution to both the profile of the guitar and La Herradura.

Pop in to find out what’s happening at the Blue Lagoon during the festive period. Martin and Sue will be closing the bar on Christmas and New Year’s Day specifically, but don’t worry, since there’ll be more than enough merry-making on offer. If you want to enjoy a brilliant three-course traditional lunch on either 16th or 23rd December, make sure you reserve your table by 9 December, since places are limited.

El Mirador de Cerro Gordo re-opens on 22nd December, with traditional Christmas lunch and dinner throughout the Festive Season. And don’t forget about their splendid Christmas take away boxes, with all the delights of the season to enjoy wherever you choose to spend the day.

Anyone wondered what happened to Liz and Greg? Well they’ve been in touch with us and just wanted to say ‘hi’ to old friends down here.

After more than 20 years in the area, Liz Saint decided to head off to scenic Ronda with partner Greg Sanderson. Both are busy working at the Hotel Molino there, with Liz developing her life coaching business and Greg keeping up his yoga classes. If anyone wants to get in contact, you can email them on gregorysanderson@yahoo.co.uk.

Salobreña street lighting is to be renewed in their efforts to get on the climate-change bandwagon. They are going to implement a strategy to save on power and use renewable energy in public buildings. Thirty-two, new, sodium street lights are to be installed in the town, which are hoped to be in operation by early next year. As Gustavo Aybar (our Environment guru) tells us, it is a problem that affects us all and the council must take all measures possible to actively fight again the emission of gases and other nasties that Salobreña shoves up into the atmosphere.

They have already been working on watering systems in the public park areas and the planting of more water-friendly vegetation. A full environmental audit is now underway to see what other changes can be made especially in relation to agricultural, commercial businesses and to transport (we can therefore look forward to new taxes being placed on businesses and vehicles?).

The post office in Lobres has been going through some improvements of late. It seems that the post office was only open from 9 am to 9.30 am daily and they will now be increasing office hours from 9 am through to 11 am. At least that gives those late risers the chance to post a letter or two in the future. The present room used as the post office at the Casa de Cultura is also to get a facelift with new furniture added as the council feel that the overall impression people got when visiting it weren’t up to standard.

Who has been torching (setting alight) the huts and sugar cane down on Salobreña beach? (The area between Salobreña and La Guardia). The fire service were called in to deal with a blaze which could be seen from quite a distance, due to the height of the flames. The fire had been deliberately started. Two hundred meters of beachfront area got blitzed, taking with it two huts, which are used by locals during the summer months. Luckily, no one was injured, as the huts and general area are not occupied over the winter months.

The Yellow Book 2008 edition (a directory of businesses and services in the Salobreña area) is currently being updated and will hit the streets in February 2008 (Salobreña Tourist Office and other local businesses will stock it). The purpose of The Yellow Book is to offer those new to the area, or who are looking for a service they have not previously used, a useful guide to services that have been recommended by other users.

Yes, this is slightly different. As The Yellow Book’s policy is only to include businesses recommended by at least two people; it’s a good way to get friends involved. If you know anyone that has used or been to the same business that you have, get them to send in a recommendation as well.

Recommendation forms can be found in the back of the 2007 edition of The Yellow Book or anyone wishing to recommend a business can send the following information to this email address: the1yellowbook@yahoo.co.uk and let them have the name of business/service, address, contact information (person’s name, phone, email, website), degree (if any), if English spoken and the reason why you think they should be included in The Yellow Book. An online version is in the planning stages.

The Salobreña International Club. A reminder that the Club has its Christmas Dinner and Dance on Wednesday, 12th December at the Hotel Salobreña, commencing at 7.30 pm. There will be a buffet dinner and music provided by the DJ, Terry Marks. They will be taking a break after the Christmas dinner until their next meeting on Wednesday 9th January, which will be held at the Hotel Salobreña at 11 am. They can be contacted through the website: www-icsalobrena.com.

Lobres Responds. This is a new initiative by Salobreña Council to assist people that have queries or business to do at the council offices but don’t have the time to get there. Under the new arrangements the villagers of Lobres now have access to a new telephone number or to an email address to communicate with a specially designated individual at the town hall (looks like someone may have got themselves burdened with yet another job on top of what they are already doing down there).

It is hoped this new service will help the locals of Lobres solve administrative problems, get necessary permissions and certificates or even to report broken lamp posts or graffiti, etc. The overworked official at Salobreña Town Hall can be contacted between Monday to Friday between 9 am to 2 pm and 4 pm to 7 pm on 958 831 608 or via email on lobresresponde@hotmail.com

Salobreña Council is going digital and has started a new initiative to try and save on the thousands of kilos of paper that are generated yearly by their staff. Someone at the council has been number crunching and has proudly announced that 20% of its paper consumption can be saved by using electronic mail to send and receive information. Welcome to the 21st century Salobreña!

Gustavo Aybar from the Environment Department says that not only will they save paper and money but they will also be able to manage the flow of documentation more quickly and efficiently. They will also be getting to grips with an intranet system at the council offices to exchange documents and assist with all their internal communications.

The owner of the distillery in Salobreña, Joaquin Martín Montero, has been brought before a judge in Motril together with four other people on charges of fraud. The Customs Monitoring Service in Motril has been investigating a network of alcohol production and distribution that has eluded payment of taxes. There have already been a total of 21 people arrested from Granada, Murcia, Córdoba and Madrid.

On exiting the court, J.M.M. was happy to speak to reporters and said that the charges put before him were just scare tactics and he was sure that after further investigation it would be proved that his distillery had not committed any criminal activity. J.M.M. will now have to appear in court every 15 days while further investigations continue.

The only school of catering on the coast and based in Salobreña still does not have a kitchen for its students to practice their culinary skills. The facilities don’t even have the necessary equipment to fry an egg. Now, this is not good news, if you are one of the students and subsequently they have now gone out on strike until they are given a kitchen to work in.

Victor, a student from Castell de Ferro, isn’t happy about this state of affairs and wonders why he is only studying the theory of cooking, when he can’t actually roll up his sleeves and get the much-needed practical experience he requires.

The cause of the problem for these thirty students is that the industrial kitchen they were supposed to be using for this course is still being built. Last year the council erected a small makeshift kitchen for the students to use but now that the main kitchen has been nearly finished, they can’t use this either, as there is a dining area being constructed next to it. The owners of chiringuitos and restaurants on the coast are also fed up that a badly needed catering school still isn’t fully operational here on the coast as good chefs and waiters are hard to find.

Having said that, many of you might notice on your travels to various bars and restaurants that you often see the same waiter who has been working at one establishment and that has then moved within a short time to another. It appears that many of these waiters get offered better working conditions, remuneration and the promise of certain days off per week by owners, which simply do not materialise once they have moved.

A credit-card thief managed to remove 600 euros over several days from the owner’s bank account. The owner of the credit card didn’t notice for two days that the card had gone missing along with documentation that had made it possible for Salobreña woman, 22-year-old, J.M.V.G. to keep dipping in to his bank account. The Guardia Civil, in charge of the case, were soon following the movements of the robber and were able to apprehend her. As always folks, keep your pin numbers and other bank information separate from your cards.

Salobreña has just won an award: the Seal of Quality for Smaller Historical Centres. Two years ago, the European Union started up the Network of Historical Centres and Salobreña has now fulfilled the required criteria. The Mayor, Jesus Avenlino Menéndez, says that this is not just about the castle, although this forms a large part of the historical value to Salobreña, but also the diverse establishments, monuments and local gastronomy to be found in and around the town. The Mayor hopes that this Seal of Quality will help promote Salobreña throughout the rest of Europe as a tourist destination and at future travel fairs at which they participate.

Salobreña went to the World Travel Market in November. This annual fair is the largest in the world with over 47,000 professionals from the travel industry, representing 202 countries and regions. Salobreña did a fine job in promoting the town and its history and ensured that there was plenty of promotional material from the hotels, restaurants and service companies to go around. We also hear that a delegation from the Granada area also collared Monarch airlines about their cancellation of flights between London Gatwick and Granada. We can but hope that this service will be resumed again in 2008.

The Salobreña charity shop is owned by Concha Montero Martín, who has been running the shop from this location for the past thirty years. The building, one of the old aristocracy houses, is really worth a visit - although it is in some state of disrepair - and has at least 30 rooms, wide hallways, frescoes on the ceilings and a large winding spiral staircase going up through the middle.

Concha tells me that the money goes to a charity called Banco de Alimentos de Granada, which is a voluntary group that collects unwanted or near sell-by-date food from supermarkets and other outlets and distributes it to all sorts of organisations. The money that Concha raises through her good works goes towards the running costs of the vehicles that are used by the charity.

Every room in the building is filled with items for sale: clothes, furniture, ceramics, duvets, chairs, pictures, bed headboards, doors, books (French, German, English), just to name a few of the items that can be found in this labyrinth. There is also a workshop to one side of the house where Pepa and other volunteers restore furniture and other items brought to them.

If you have any items you would like to donate to the shop, please head down there and Concha would be very pleased to receive them. Alternatively, pop in and have a wander round, as I am sure you won’t come away empty handed! Furthemore, if you could donate a little of your free time, Concha would really appreciate some assistance in the shop. Calle Cristo. Open Monday to Saturday between 10 am and 1.30 pm.

The cementery in Lobres is being moved. The old cemetery only had 150 niches and local people had their own keys, as there were no specific times for opening and no person in charge to look after the tombs. All the deceased will be transferred to the new cemetery nearby, starting in early December and it is hoped that by early 2008 they will have completed the move. The Council have been in contact with families of the deceased and the transfers are being undertaken free of charge.

Dumb or dumber? A 31-year-old man recently tried to break into the house of Fermín García Puentedura, the Mayor of Molvízar, in the early hours of the morning and knowing that they were at home. Having scaled the wall and getting as far as the terrace area in front of the house, the thief managed to find some tools that he thought would be useful to break through the front door. Luckily for the family, sleeping soundly in the house, the thief was unable to get through the front-door lock.

Abandoning this idea, the thief turned his attention to the Mayor’s car, which was sitting at the front of the house. The thief broke the back windscreen and proceeded to push the car towards the gates of the house in order not to wake up the family. At this point, I should tell you that the Mayor had not locked his car and the keys were in the ignition had the thief bothered to check.

By now the thief is wondering how he is going to get the car out of the locked gate when he spies a switch near the gates. Thinking that this might be the electronic switch to open the gates he decided to press it. The switch was in fact a loud bell that the Mayor had installed by which to call his family from other areas of the house and garden for meals, etc. The bell goes off, the family are woken and the Mayor rushes outside to see the thief still trying to push his car towards the gates. The thief is now in the custody of the local constabulary and is helping the police with their enquiries on other robberies that have taken place in the town over the past few months.

What would you think of a grandson that beat you up and stole from you? A rather disturbing story recently emerged through the Motril courts of a man who did just that. On 15 May 2007, a man identified as A.S.L. of Motril went to his 80-year-old grandmother’s house armed with a stick. He then beat her up and took 420 euros from her purse, which was in her pocket. The grandson also thought that by covering his face he wouldn’t be recognised by his grandmother. Fat chance. A.S.L. is now enjoying prison life, has been ordered to compensate his grandmother to the tune of 870 euros and is not allowed within 300 meters of her for the next two years. I guess he won’t be invited round for Sunday lunch in the future.

The crew of a coastal patrol boat has recently found a body floating fourteen miles out to sea. The badly decomposed body is reported to be that of a man, apparently an immigrant, although the circumstances surrounding his death will never be fully ascertained.

No sooner had this body been brought ashore, when a further boatload of 32 sub-Sahara immigrants were sighted off the Motril coast. The occupants where promptly brought into the Port of Motril, where they were reported to be in good physical condition but with slight symptoms of hypothermia as a result of the low temperatures. A further 67 immigrants landed on our shores on 20th November. They are all now enjoying the new extension to the immigration centre that has recently had to be built to house the ever-increasing flood of new arrivals.

The Red Palm Weevil (Picudo Rojo) really does seem to be worrying the good folk of Motril. A new study suggests that Motril will lose up to 2,500 palms over the next few years, if something isn’t done to stop the epidemic. Francisco Villoslada from the Agriculture Department and Antonio Escámez of the Medio Ambiente have now stepped forward with the results of the study and are pointing their accusatory fingers in various directions. First to get the finger pointed at them is the Junta de Andalucía, who they accuse of staying out of the fight against this plague for years and thereby leaving the matter in the hands of the city councils and individuals.

These councillors then also get the figure pointed at them for not treating the palms when A) they knew about the problem and B) did nothing about it. Francisco Villoslada points out that if the palms had been sprayed back in February, rather than October this year, there would have been a higher survival rate with early measures taken. What particularly sticks in the throat of both of these two gentlemen is that the Málaga area has received a cool one million euros to fight the epidemic, whilst the Granada area is being ignored.

The Red Palm Weevil can travel some kilometres and their destructiveness is usually quiet and invisible. Once the weevil has been detected, it is almost certainly too late to save the palm. Then, the palm must be cut down and crushed to stop the Weevil from spreading (remember, the Town Hall will arrange to have a tree cut down for you if on your private property and the Junta will pay the cost). Sixty-eight palms have been cut down from public areas in Motril in 2007, there are a further 121 infected and we hear reports weekly of private property owners now having to cut down their palms too.

Antonio Escámez vented his annoyance at the situation by saying it should not have to be the trees that go through the crusher but the people who knew about the problem and did nothing! (This gentleman is either very, very annoyed or has been watching too many James Bond movies). Apparently, there are European Controls that should be fulfilled and perhaps these will include the stoppage of imports and exports of palm trees in the future.

The Christmas lights of Motril will be illuminated on the 5th December at 19.00 hours with over a million light bulbs being used in the decorations. We are going to see illuminations up the trunks of trees (if all the palms haven’t been chopped down and crushed by then), on signboards and in other areas where previously they haven’t been located.

A local council official has said that this year the objective is that Motril should shine at Christmas according to the character and tradition of a commercial city… (What he really means here is that he wants everyone to be able to get out on the streets in the evenings and be able to see their way from one shop to another to buy all their Christmas gifts and give the shop owners something to be happy about). A staggering 80 streets are to get the light-bulb treatment and Francisco Villoslada says that he hopes even though Motril doesn’t have much of a budget for such things, that all the decorations will last the course of the Christmas festivities and won’t get vandalised (obviously wants to use them again next year).

The Bomberos (the firemen) have just received a further 35,000 euros to their budget and have been on a shopping spree. The equipment purchased is to help extract trapped, traffic-accident victims from vehicles in the fastest and safest way possible. Their new acquisitions include hydraulic, gasoline pumps, hoses, hydraulic separators, high pressure cushions to name just a few of the very useful new gadgets. Now here’s the good bit … a spokesman says that the equipment will be put into a vehicle of the rescue services and that this vehicle will be ‘acquired’ by the Council of Motril … I hope the councillors know this. I guess there is still plenty of time for the council to purchase the said vehicle, as the Bomberos now have to go on a course to learn how to use all this new equipment.

Schools in Motril are to have a new lesson added to their Wednesday morning curriculum. The Council for Immigration has started a new project called ‘Space of Peace,’ which will be taught throughout the school year. Due to the high volumes of immigrants now arriving and settling into the area, the Council has arranged these lessons to emphasise to all children that different cultural groups can co-exist, value and respect each other and to reject intolerant views, prejudices and stereotyping.

Shock treatment. An electrician, working eight meters up a pole on the N-340, installing high voltage electrical cables recently gave himself a nasty shock and then plummeted to the ground. Ouch! The exact details of the incident have not been reported but it would appear that the man was manipulating cables when something didn’t go according to plan. The Local Police, National Police and fire service don’t seem to agree on the exact chain of events of the accident, although they all agree that no foul play was involved. The man had facial, internal injuries and fractures of the wrists and was rushed to the Santa Ana Hospital in Motril and then on to Granada by helicopter. Was the man working with a safety harness? Had the electrical supply been shut down prior to the work being undertaken?

Seventeen percent of Spaniards believe in the power of faith healers. Now, this is not a percentage figure to be ignored. Motril has its own faith healer, Juan Fernandez, who is said to be a personable and modest man. He says, “If I said that I can cure cancer that would be stupid, I do not cure anything, to cure is very complicated, I only help to alleviate health problems.” Juan believes that it is people’s faith in him that gives them the power to overcome or improve their health problems. He reckons to have laid his hands on over 90,000 people in his 25 years as a healer … some going, Juan.

The British cruise ship, the Saga Ruby, berthed at the Port of Motril in early November and tipped out its three hundred odd passengers onto the streets of Motril for a day. The Office of Tourism and the Harbour Authority got a couple of the local horticultural associations to cough up the money for shuttle buses to get them to and from the port with the added bonus of promotional gifts in the form of local fruits. Then the Motril Chamber of Commerce and Industry got in on the act by making available a team of guides, speaking three languages, to the British tourists (this is getting good, no?). Why the gold star treatment one wonders? Motril is obviously on a headlong tourist charm offensive in an effort to convince tourists that Motril really is a worthwhile destination.

The Mayor of Motril, Carlos Rojas, and the Councillor for Tourism, Francisco Villoslada, took themselves off to London in November to represent Motril at the World Travel Market. Just think, they could have hitched a free ride on the Saga Ruby and heard what all the passengers thought of their day in Motril. This, they say, really does show their commitment to tourism and the future of the local economy. Carlos Rojas and Francisco Villoslada had many meetings with experts in hotel investments and made many contacts amongst the hotel chains who were present. They feel that there is not enough hotel accommodation in the Motril area and that it is necessary to re-address this situation over the next four years due to Motril’s good geographical location, microclimate, gastronomy and beaches.

The visit to the World Travel Market obviously got the minds of some officials down at the Town Hall working overtime. Motril now has 3,220 registered unemployed and someone has come up with a very jolly plan to get them on to courses for nautical sports, languages and hotel work (waiters, cooks and bottle washers seem to be most in demand) to serve the tourism industry. To help with learning bottle washing and other hotel skills, we are informed that a building with approximately 1,600 square meters is now being looked for to house a new Catering School so that all the unemployed can get themselves a new qualification. Thought I should warn you what to expect if you register yourself as unemployed in Motril.

The roundabout built earlier this year where Gasoline Alley (Carretera de Almeria) meets the N-340, still hasn’t been illuminated although lamp posts were erected at the time of the roundabout’s installation. Recently, a driver approaching the roundabout in the dark overturned his vehicle and died from his injuries. Before you ask, “Why not hit the ‘On’ switch on the electrical supply?,” it appears it is not a simple procedure. A letter has now been sent to the office of the Eastern Highways of Andalucía to ask the reasons why this roundabout hasn’t been given any electrical juice. There is also the Ministry of Public Works and the Economy of the Central Government who have a hand in flicking on the ‘On’ switch, so I guess it will be some time and a few more deaths at this hot-spot before we are eventually able to see where we are going.

In the April issue of the Seaside Gazette, we reported that the Comisaría (your local police station) was on the move to a new building being constructed opposite the public swimming pool in Motril. In mid November, our Mayor, Carlos Rojas, announced that the new police station has now opened. The project was given the go-ahead in 2003 and in September 2004 further extensions in the form of additional parking and modifications were agreed to the project. From the dust has risen a three-storey building with nearly 4,000 square meters (plenty of cells to house all the villains of the peace) built on a budget of 2,374,000 euros.

Here’s a question for you … how many units of alcohol did you consume in the past seven days? You count up while I continue. In November, the Motril Council ran a week of activities to highlight the dangerous and injurious effects too much alcohol consumption can have on us. The local radio waves were full of broadcasts on the subject, films and debates were organised with one of these debates translated to read “Fathers and mothers in front of the large bottle”. Catchy little title, no? The campaign was run in conjunction with ALMORE, who assist people that have drink-related problems and their families.

Here’s a lovely story told to me recently about a Fleet Street journalist. The journalist, Mike, had been out to a particularly liquid lunch and arrived back to the newsroom late afternoon and was greeted by Sir Lionel Someone-or-other, who was Editor-in-Chief with the words: “Pissed again, Mike.” To which Mike replied: “So am I, sir, so am I.”